Book Description
"Let me tell you who I am, on the chance that these scribblings do survive....I am Murgen, Standard bearer of the Black Company, though I bear the shame of having lost that standard in battle. I am keeping these Annals because Croaker is dead., One-Eye won't, and hardly anyone else can read or write. I will be your guide for however long it takes the Shadowlanders to force our present predicament to its inevitable end..."

So writes Murgen, seasoned veteran of the Black Company. The Company has taken the fortress of Stormgard from the evil Shadowlanders, lords of darkness from the far reaches of the earth. Now the waiting begins.

Exhausted from the siege, beset by sorcery, and vastly outnumbered, the Company have risked their souls as well as their lives to hold their prize. But this is the end of an age, and great forces are at work. The ancient race known as the Nyueng Bao swear that ancient gods are stirring. the Company's commander has gone mad and flirts with the forces of darkness. Only Murgen, touched by a spell that has set his soul adrift in time, begins at last to comprehend the dark design that has made pawns of men and god alike.



About the Author
Born in 1944, Glen Cook grew up in northern California, served in the U.S. Navy, attended the University of Missouri, and was one of the earliest graduates of the well-known "Clarion" workshop SF writers. Since 1971 he has published a large number of SF and fantasy novels, including the "Dread Empire" series, the occult-detective "Garrett" novels, and the very popular "Black Company" sequence that began with the publication of The Black Company in 1984. Among his SF novels is A Passage at Arms.

After working many years for General Motors, Cook now writes full-time. He lives near St. Louis, Missouri, with his wife Carol.

ANNOTATION

The eagerly awaited new novel in the epic Black Company saga reaches mass market! The Black Company has taken the fortress of Stormgard from the evil Shadowlanders, lords of darkness from the far reaches of the earth. Now the waiting begins. Exhausted from the siege, the Company have risked everything to hold on to their prize. But this is the end of an age, and great forces are at work. Targeted ads. HC: Tor. (Fiction--Fantasy)

FROM THE PUBLISHER

This is the harrowing tale of the defense of Dejagore, as told by Murgen, a seasoned veteran of many brutal campaigns. The Black Company has taken the fortress of Stormgard from the evil Shadowlanders, lords of darkness from the far reaches of the earth. Now the waiting begins. Exhausted from the long siege, vastly outnumbered, and beset by powerful sorcery, the Company have risked their souls as well as their lives to hold their hard-fought-for prize. But this is the end of an age, and great forces are at work. The ancient race known as the Nyueng Bao swear that ancient gods are stirring. The Company's commander has gone mad and flirts with the forces of darkness. Only Murgen, touched by a spell that has set his soul adrift in time, begins at last to comprehend the dark design that has made pawns of men and gods alike.

FROM THE CRITICS

VOYA - William J. White

The Black Company is a mercenary unit of ancient lineage and mysterious origins. Attempting to retrace their predecessors' steps, and having become embroiled in a local war, the remnants of the current Black Company are besieged within the city of Dejagore, formerly a stronghold of the powerful Shadowmasters. The situation seems bleak, but Murgen, standard-bearer and annalist of the Company, reluctantly takes up the reins of leadership within Dejagore's walls in order to resist both the Shadowlander armies besieging them, and rival factions within the city who would like nothing more than to see the Black Company destroyed. Outside the city walls, however, a skein of plots, intrigues, and rivalries is being played out. Croaker, the captain of the Black Company (presumed killed in battle but actually rescued by a sorceress pursuing her own dark designs), and the Lady (formerly the ruler of an empire to the far north, and a skilled sorceress herself) marshall their forces against the Shadowmasters and their allies, a cult of assassins who have kidnapped the Lady and Croaker's infant daughter, believing her to be the incarnation or avatar of their death-goddess. This is the seventh Black Company novel, continuing the saga of the Black Company's search for its origin. Murgen is a jaded and war-weary narrator; the setting is fantasy, but the tone is hard-boiled. Cook writes about real men and women caught up in fantastic but plausible situations. To a certain extent, this is not the place to begin reading about the Black Company; the reader's knowledge of events in past novels is to a certain extent assumed. However, it is a worthy successor to those novels, as Cook's work has been growing in complexity and maturity throughout the previous stories. This novel, which seems somewhat experimental, playing with point of view shifts and non-linear narrative sequences, is among the best of the Black Company stories. VOYA Codes: 4Q 4P J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses, Broad general YA appeal, Junior High-defined as grades 7 to 9 and Senior High-defined as grades 10 to 12).

Kirkus Reviews

From the author of Tower of Fear (1989), the first hardcover appearance for an established paperback military fantasy series about the Black Company, a sort of extended family of mercenary warriors. This particular adventure is narrated by their standard- bearer, Murgen, who has a problem: His awareness keeps jumping into the past, where he is forced to relive the siege of the stone city Stormgard by the evil wizard Shadowspinner and his forces. Within the city, the Black Company is split between the Old Crew—Murgen and friends—and the Nar, cannibals and death-goddess worshippers, whose leader, Mogaba, attempts to betray the Old Crew and claim the leadership of the entire Company. Allied with the Old Crew are the Nyueng Bao, a wandering band of pilgrims and expert swordfighters. In the present, meanwhile, the Black Company and the Nyueng Bao must battle the evil wizard Soulcatcher and her hordes of Strangler assassins—and also try to discover what's making Murgen jump about in time.

Some good ideas, and intriguingly structured, but theatrical and with far too little action to attract readers unfamiliar with the series.